On the day after Christmas 2012, Toyota Motor North America announced that it had agreed to settle a giant class action over the sudden, unintended acceleration of some of its vehicles. It was the kind of announcement that was guaranteed to draw attention. The value of the settlement in the multidistrict litigation in Santa Ana, Calif., was $1.6 billion.
The odd thing about it was the competing reactions. Some people saw it as a Christmas present to the plaintiffs, who had walloped the company in a matter that only covered the economic damages car owners had suffered after a series of recalls and a lot of bad publicity. The settlement left intact hundreds of lawsuits filed by customers who claimed they’d suffered personal injuries after their cars accelerated out of control.
